


The Magic of Acting

by chucks_prophet



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Acting, Actor Balthazar, Actor Castiel (Supernatural), Awkward first meeting, Benny Lafitte & Dean Winchester Friendship, Embarrassed Dean, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fighting, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Past Castiel/April Kelly, Stage Fighting, Then Actual Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 05:57:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11201859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chucks_prophet/pseuds/chucks_prophet
Summary: “Right,” Dean laughs, rubbing his neck, “well, that explains it.”“Explains what?”“Why you’re so attractive.” Dean’s not much for theatrics himself, so the blush that coats his cheeks isn’t makeup and it certainly isn’t acting.





	The Magic of Acting

 

Dean’s just walking down the road, minding his business, when it happens.

At least, that’s how he’ll tell it to anyone who asks.

In truth, Dean’s walking off a bad fight with his best friend of nearly five years. Moving in together with someone you respect seems like a great idea until you live with them _every day_. He and Benny come from different backgrounds, but share the same hot temper at times, so an argument is bound to arise when Dean finds dirty laundry on the floor or when Benny can’t find his favorite ladle that Dean misplaces when he empties the dishwasher.

For the most part, they’ve both fixed their bad habits. Benny bought a hamper and Dean marked the ladle with a small piece of red tape that corresponds with a drawer, also taped, so he doesn’t forget to put the ladle where Benny keeps it. But it doesn’t help when new things crop up. Dean’s found taking a walk clears his mind, so when he comes back, he’s ready to make amends, even though Benny’s quick to apologize too because they don’t want to lose each other as roommates or friends.

It’s no wonder Dean hasn’t been in a romantic relationship for a while.

Dean decides halfway on his walk to head to the store to pick up a few things they need, so he turns down a shortcut through a barren parking lot that, at ten in the morning, doesn’t seem as menacing. Dean’s able to hold his own if need be, but without his morning coffee, he would rather not for the person on the other end.

As he turns, he spots two men, engaged in an action that’s far from friendly. As he nears closer, he can see one guy punching the other across the face. The other guy falls to the ground and shakes himself off before he lunges at his perpetrator, who hits him back with an uppercut.

“Hey!” Dean yells, rushing into the scene. He manages to take the perp by surprise and press him against the wall with the side of his arm against his throat. The perp’s hazel eyes balloon with surprise.

“No, no! We’re actors! We’re rehearsing!” the other man yells before jumping between the perp and Dean, and the other guy’s eyes are wide enough that Dean feels like he’s being swallowed into the deep ocean. “May I?”

Confused, Dean steps off to the side and watches as the victim of the attack raises his fist to the guy and swings. Dean flinches a little at what’s to come, but the guy’s fist far from grazes the alleged perp’s face, even though he throws his head to the right of him.

“See?” the man pinned against the wall says, his British accent coming out as he stresses again, “Acting.”

“It’s all about perspective,” the other guy adds.

Dean shakes his head out of embarrassment and notices the building in front of them: _Lot 34._ Sometimes it’s used by the high schoolers across the road for video projects before they get kicked out for trespassing, but its purpose serves to be a temporary home to a few legitimate actors during the summertime. He _knows_ this, but Dean’s head must be so far in a red haze, he can’t see the light. Or couldn’t, until now. “Sorry, man,” he says to the guy brushing himself from the wall, “If I’d known—”

“It’s alright,” the guy with the British accent concedes, “It’s not the first time I’ve been pinned to a wall.”

“You—okay,” says Dean, because where does he even start to question that?

The other guy with the blue eyes and raspy voice turns around and says, “Balthazar, can you tell Metatron we’re gonna take our thirty now? I’ll meet you inside in a minute.”

Balthazar nods and starts heading towards the metal door behind them, but not before turning around with a smirk. The other guy waits until he hears it close completely to lend out his hand, “Cas.”

It takes Dean a moment to process what’s happening since his head is still spinning a little from pressing Balthazar against the wall, but he manages to get a grip long enough to transfer that strength to Cas’s hand, “Dean. Sorry to put you in a weird position earlier, I didn’t mean to… you know.”

“It’s quite alright,” Cas says with a small smile, lifting dimples entrenched in a looming five o’clock shadow. “I would’ve probably assumed the same thing if I was in your position.”

“So, you’re an actor,” Dean repeats.

Cas nods, running a hand nervously through his short, but messy dark brown hair, unlike his costar’s, which is a dirty blonde. “Short films, mostly, but hopefully after this project, I’ll be working my way up the ladder.”

“Right,” Dean laughs, rubbing his neck, “well, that explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“Why you’re so attractive.” Dean’s not much for theatrics himself, so the blush that coats his cheeks isn’t makeup and it certainly isn’t acting.

He hopes the same goes for Cas’s blush. “So, what brings you out here?”

“Oh, I live around here. I had a fight with my roommate—a _real_ fight,” Dean clarifies with a laugh. “Nothing physical, though. Benny and I haven’t tried to kill each other in a little over a year.”

Cas throws his head back with a wide eyes, “Wow, that’s um… impressive?”

“I know, I feel like we need a chip or something.”

Cas laughs, and it sends Dean spiraling down a chocolate fountain with how deep and rich it is.

“Anyway,” Dean says, “I should probably get going if I don’t want to get kicked out of my apartment. After all, it sorta was my fault this time. Plus, I’m sure you have more scenes to shoot or whatever…”

Cas starts to nod. “Right. Yeah, I have ten more hours of prep and then tomorrow we start shooting.”

Dean whistles low, “Wow. When do you eat?”

“Well, I mean, in ten hours, which puts us at eight tonight.”

“Us?”  

“Yeah,” Cas confirms, biting his plush pink bottom lip, which would be busted where that guy Balthazar was fake-hitting him. “Do you want to go out sometime? I haven’t been filming on location for a while, but maybe you can show me my way around a decent place to eat.”

Dean’s mouth parts, completely destroying the whole blue-steel thing he’s going for, and spacing out on everything he says after the fact. “This isn’t you roleplaying, right?”

Cas laughs, “No.” He bites back a grin that clears up some answers for Dean. “No, I, um… I’m actually asking.”

“Well, in that case,” Dean says, pausing for dramatic effect like it’s part of what Cas is filming: “I’d love to.”

Cas breathes a sigh of relief, and Dean feels like he should do the same, even though he’s the one that’s being asked out, “Alright. Cool. I’ll meet you here, then.”

“I’ll pick you up,” Dean promises, grinning. “Oh, and tell Balthazar I say sorry again, by the way.”

“That’s alright,” Cas says, “between you and I, he’s kind of a jackass off-set too to have deserved it.”

Dean nods and smiles a little because _God,_ he’s so fucking perfect. “Okay,” he says stupidly, “see you then.”

“Bye, Dean,” Cas laughs as he starts to walk in the opposite direction, back to his apartment, the store and the items he needed to buy completely forgotten.

**

“Oh my God,” Cas breathes, to Dean’s surprise. They’ve just arrived at the restaurant of Dean’s choosing _,_ and Cas is already swallowing a hint of regret rather than pepper. “It’s her.”

Dean turns around, and is immediately taken back. There, sitting in the outside table closest to the restaurant, is: “April Kelly?!” As in, April Kelly, star of the hit show _Angel Radio,_ and Dean’s reason for even being invested in television anymore. He watches in awe as she combs over her long, red hair a couple times staring directly at Cas, despite the man sitting directly across from her who Dean recognizes as Michael Shurley, who plays her on-screen cousin. “What’s—? I mean, why is she—?”

“We used to date,” Cas says sternly, eyes fixed on April.

Dean’s eyes extend far beyond what he thought is possible. “Wow. I mean…” Dean laughs, “ _Wow_. I don’t know who I’m more jealous of, to be honest.”

“We have to kiss.”

Dean’s laughing comes to a halt because, “Wait, did I hear that right?”

“I mean, we don’t have to _actually_ kiss,” Cas clarifies, tearing his intense gaze from April to look at Dean, who’s looking even more confused. “There’s such thing as a stage-kiss. We kiss at a certain angle to make it look like we’re kissing from a far enough distance, but in reality, we’re just hovering over each other’s lips.”

“Well, that sounds romantic,” Dean scoffs, although, he’s not exactly objecting.

“Follow my lead,” Cas says, and then he’s grabbing Dean’s face to dip him closer to him before eventually moving his fingers to Dean’s caramel hair until they’re eye-to-eye. “Good,” he says, clearing his throat a little. “Now, tilt your head to the right, and I’ll tilt mine to the left. Then we just sort of bob our heads like this.”

Dean does as he’s told because _April Kelly_ and also, he kind of likes being bossed around by Cas, especially being this close to him, where he can smell his aftershave and almost minty musk. It’s kind of awkward, the motions they’re making—all they’re doing is pretty much just bumping noses every now and then—but it gives Dean incentive to rest his hands just above the small of Cas’s back.

About a minute later, Cas cranes his head over Dean’s shoulder to see April and Michael getting up from their seats and walking away. Cas throws his head back and raises a victory fist. “Thank God. I’m sorry to put you through that. We don’t exactly have a good history.”

“Hey, I totally get it,” Dean says, hands still resting on Cas’s back. “Crazy exes are sort of my specialty. Not handling them, but having them—and I have quite a few. But… April Kelly?!”

“I take it you’re a fan,” Cas laughs, and like Dean, still holding onto Dean’s neck.

“Well, I _was,_ ” Dean says, “until I heard that she screwed you over.”

Cas blushes. “Yeah, she broke up with me for another of her costars, who’s much bigger on social media. I’m not too established yet, and I guess that wasn’t enough to keep the bed warm.”

Dean shakes his head. “Showbiz, man.”

“Tell me about it,” Cas agrees just before their eyes meet again. He licks the seam of his lip.

Dean follows the movement with his own lips before he knows what he’s doing.

Cas leans into the kiss, and so does Dean, creating a perfect rise and fall with their mouths, like there’s a concert composer in the background orchestrating the whole event as the kiss becomes more heated, the rise of the crescendos. He’s not sure if he pulls away first, or if Cas does, but he knows Cas is the first one to speak, because all that’s transpired is currently rendering Dean speechless: “ _Wow.”_

“Wow,” Dean agrees after a few seconds, trying to regain his breath.

“I felt… absolutely nothing,” Cas says, shocked by his own admission. Dean starts to frown. Then Cas’s smile is out, big and gummy. “I’m just kidding. _Acting,_ remember?” he says, mimicking Balthazar’s accent.

“I’ll show you acting,” Dean scoffs, leaning in again.

 


End file.
